The present invention relates generally to the art of storage devices for recorded data disks, such as compact disks and the like. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a data disk holder having suitable structural integrity to facilitate easy handling and binding thereof into a perfect-bound publication during a bindery process.
With the increasing demand for information and the proliferation of the use of data disks (i.e., CD's, DVD's, etc.) to store such information, it has become increasingly common for bound publications such as books and magazines to be sold with an accompanying data disk(s) containing supplemental information which compliments and/or augments the information contained in the bound publication. While early efforts to include such data disks with bound publications included adhesively securing a data disk holder to the back cover of the publication, or packaging the bound publication and data disk in an exterior package, more recent efforts have been directed toward the use of data disks holders which can be perfect-bound directly into the book or magazine during the bindery process.
The ability to perfect bind the data disk holder into a book during the bindery process substantially reduces the labor-intensive secondary operation of manually inserting the data disk into a holder and adhesively applying the same to the inside of the book cover, or the secondary operation of packaging the bound publication and supplemental data disk holder into an exterior package to hold the same. Such labor-intensive secondary operations obviously increase handling and manufacturing costs, thus reducing the profit margin for the publication.
Perfect binding a data disk holder within a bound publication, however, presents certain manufacturing and handling issues in the signature grabbing, trimming and gluing operations of the bindery process. It has been found that conventional disk holders constructed of all plastic or vinyl suffer from structural integrity problems in that they are too pliable and easy to bend. Such holders of this type tend to damage easily either during shipping to the bindery or during the binding operation. Consequently, difficulties occur in handling the damaged disk holders in the signature grabbing and trimming operations, causing jams in the binding equipment and the need for added costly and labor intensive sorting and rework operations. Furthermore, the material inconsistency between conventional all-vinyl or plastic data disk holders and typical paper sheets of a printed publication tend to cause delays in the glue drying process of the bound pages. Since the glue on a plastic disk holder will dry slower and is less secure, it has a tendency to stick to the binding flights and pull loose during the bindery process, thereby causing additional costly rework. Safety is also a concern in that data disk holders bound within a printed publication are susceptible to theft and/or vandalism. While it is oftentimes considered desirable for the data disk holder to accommodate reusable storage for a data disk, allowing unfettered access to the disk is generally considered inadvisable. Although it is difficult to prevent theft or vandalism, it is preferable that any such reusable disk holder provide some means of indicating tampering with the contents thereof.
One attempt at producing a bindable data disk holder can be found in U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 5,713,605. This holder is designed to position the compact disk for binding within a magazine and has an outer jacket portion which is constructed from a single web of card stock that is folded over upon itself and adhesively secured together to form a pocket. Contained within the pocket is a separate disk assembly which holds a data disk and incorporates a paperboard backing with a clear plastic film that is shrink-wrapped therearound so as to entirely encompass the data disk and base portion. This assembly is then adhesively secured within the inside of the outer jacket, and is accessible through an openable flap in the jacket. The outer jacket of this data disk holder is provided with a peripheral tear strip for removable edge binding within a magazine.
The complexity of this data disk holder is readily evident. The holder is constructed of multiple components having multiple layers of card stock which, upon completion, not only increases the manufacturing cost, but also forms an overly thick and cumbersome data disk holder that will be incongruent with the remainder of the printed pages of the bound publication. In addition, such a data disk holder is not designed for reusable storage, as once it is opened, neither the inner data disk assembly nor the outer jacket is capable of containing the data disk in a storage capacity.
Another more recent attempt to create a data disk holder suitable for binding can be found in U.S. Ser. Pat. No. 6,360,889. This disk holder utilizes a pair of vinyl sheets sealed together to form a pocket within which the data disk may be stored. A separate cardboard spacer may also be carried within the pocket to secure the data disk against movement and provide consistency in thickness. The holder containing the data disk is constructed with all-vinyl peripheral land portions that facilitate trimming and binding of the holder within a bound publication. Although such peripheral land portions may be ribbed to enhance structural integrity, their all-vinyl construction is still susceptible to being easily bent, and will continue to pose problems in the glue drying process due to the inconsistency of signature materials.
From the foregoing, it is evident that there is a distinct need for a data disk holder which has sufficient structural integrity to remain flat without significant deformation during shipping and handling in the bindery process, yet substantially congruent with the other signature pages of the bound publication and constructed of a material consistent therewith to facilitate rapid and secure binding of the holder within the publication. There is also a desire for such a data disk holder to provide means for reusable storage of the data disk, as well as safety means for warning of unwanted tampering with the data disk. It is with these objectives in mind, as well as the objective of designing such a data disk holder in a cost efficient manner, that has lead to the development of the present invention which is described in detail hereafter.